Why Are Human Body Parts Washing Up In The Chao Phraya River?

A human head, torso, arm and leg have all separately washed up in the Chao Phraya River over this weekend.

DNA is currently being tested although it’s still unknown at this stage whether the parts belong to the same person. Sources have however suggested the victim could be an Asian male, reports the Bangkok Post.

The smell and aesthetic condition of the body parts suggests they had been in the river for around two days before they were found.

Timeline of events

Saturday morning

The first part to wash up was an arm, found covered in weeds and emanating a rancid smell by a dockyard worker near Wat Kharuehabodee in the Bang Phlat district of Bangkok.

Pol Lt Col Suphap Phetcharat, speaking on behalf of the Borwornmongkol police station in Bang Phlat, said the arm bore a significant wound that may suggest a measure of torture had taken place. The arm was sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for DNA identification.

In a separate event, longtail sailor Wichian Sukto spotted what he claimed looked like the lower part of a leg from knee to foot in the river around Muang district, in Nonthaburi. Mr Wichian took a photo but was unable to retrieve it due to the power of the tide.

Sunday afternoon

Next to emerge from the river was a torso in Pakkret, Nonthaburi, near Wat Phothongbon.

Even more chillingly, an hour later saw a head, encased in a plastic bag and giving off a foul smell, wash up in the near vicinity under a riverside house.

Finally, Mr Wichian retrieves another, smaller part of the lower leg from the river, this time the part measuring from the knee to the calf. He saw it in Muang, Nonthaburi, and managed to pull it out of the water at the pier by Wat Tamnak Tai.

What next?

The police are working hard to identify the victim and confirm that all found body parts are indeed from the same person.

Fingerprint testing and DNA analysis are currently being undergone at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, while Uthasin Ritruangdej, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 7, confirmed his investigators were analysing missing persons’ reports in order to speed identification of the victim and identify their assailant.

Forensic results are expected at some point this week.

Featured image is of a longtail boat on the Chao Phraya River and is by Mustang Joe